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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I don't know how someone could look at Macalester, Carleton,  Claremont McKenna, and Swarthmore and see the same college.[/quote]

Thank you! Just say you’re not open to the small college experience. Don’t embarrass yourself by suggesting they’re all the same. Just visited Vassar, Colgate, and Hamilton over a few days with my DC a few weeks ago. They were like three totally different countries. [/quote]

Can you say how these three are so different? I've been to Vassar, not Hamilton or Colgate yet. thanks![/quote]

Just one person's opinion, but I would describe the schools this way:

Vassar =  more urban feel given location in small city in Hudson River Valley; likely most progressive of the three (can we please retire "woke") and the students are on the "alternative" side, as we used to say in the 90s; though oft maligned as too arts focused, school is strong in many stem fields, though you probably wouldn't choose it if finance or consulting is the goal; gender balance pretty far in favor of women, if that matters - likely vestige of Vassar previously being one of the Seven Sisters; strong school traditions and spirit that are not at all related to athletics - sort of Hogwarts house type stuff; maybe the most beautiful campus in the game and a museum with a collection so impressive it's almost embarrassing for just one small college to have it

Colgate = very remote feel with location in Upstate NY, though the town of Hamilton nearby is very quaint; less progressive vibe, students seem much preppier and sportier than Vassar; seemed to have a heavy pre-professional focus: consulting and finance all day; to that end, some student groups were application only and competitive; D1 sports school so football and basketball are a much larger part of the school's identity - athletes visibility on campus just much different than at a DIII SLAC; perfectly lovely campus just not my fave, nor that of my DC

Hamilton = also located in rural Upstate NY near town called Clinton, but proximity to Utica and Syracuse make it seem less remote; student vibe seemed to be in the middle perhaps of Vassar and Colgate - sportier presenting but also progressive-minded; Hamilton prides itself on its writing instruction across disciplines - did not get a pre-professional vibe; I asked our student tour guide if students had trouble getting into clubs and he sort of laughed and said he was aware that that was an issue at other schools but it wasn't at Hamilton; tour guide was an athlete and he did discuss the well known sports rivalries amongst the NESCAC schools, but he also discussed Hamilton traditions (google "light side v. dark side," for example) that generated school spirit; some greek life but no houses and it is not a large part of the social scene, beautiful campus distinguished by the school's acquisition of a nearby women's college in the 70s(?)

I'll note that both Vassar and Hamilton have some variation of an open curriculum which attracts a certain kind of student.

Now please forgive this rant but you can't discuss the relative merit schools on a DCUM post without mentioning their USNWR rankings, so ... The schools are ranked what they're ranked. That said, admissions criteria for all three are more or less in the same neighborhood, and the schools have great outcomes. Attempts to distinguish between these schools or between these and "higher-ranked" schools based on notions of value or ROI are, IMO, lazy people applying their own notions of prestige based on their own personal experiences and biases and further informed by USNWR rankings. Every family has to choose where they spend their tuition dollars. I get it, and I don't judge that. But saying X school isn't "worth it" however, is like saying x house isn't worth that price because only center hall colonials in Arlington are worth that price. It just sounds myopic and boorish, frankly. Just say, the zeitgeist has declared these schools "the best" so I need not do any additional research! Many other schools have much to offer based on their academic strengths, locations, cultures, admissions standards, etc. Again, in my opinion, these are much more valid reasons to inform college application decisions than how US News has shuffled the WASP (+ Bowdoin, now) order in any given year.[/quote]

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